


A Thief In The Night

by Flowergoddess2728



Category: Skyrim
Genre: Dark Brotherhood - Freeform, F/M, Falling In Love, Follower, Friendship, Original Character(s), Quests, Spoilers, Stormcloak Rebellion, Thieves Guild
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-16
Updated: 2018-09-15
Packaged: 2019-06-28 02:02:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 7,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15697884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flowergoddess2728/pseuds/Flowergoddess2728
Summary: Rowan has avoided going into the Ragged Flagon for a while. After having failed at putting the ring in Brand Shei’s pocket, she can’t bring herself to face anyone in the Ratway. Unfortunately, her next task for the Dark Brotherhood is to have Delvin Mallory appraise an amulet. She has no choice but to face her fear and go down there.





	1. Weird Guy In The Sewer

Rowan is a little too nervous. She hasn’t been back to the Ratway since her failure to get Madesi’s ring into Brand Shei’s pocket. She was mortified when the guards began attacking her and couldn’t bring herself to come back. As a member of the Dark Brotherhood, however, she knows she has a job to do.   
Immediately upon entering the Ratway, she hears some voices and takes out her warhammer. Sneaking up on the two lowlifes, she takes the first by surprise and takes the other down soon enough. She can’t help feeling a little smug, seeing two kills on the ground, and she feels elated when she sees the sack of coins on the ground.  
That is, until she gets hit from behind. She barely has time to turn around before she gets hit again. And again. Her warhammer is nowhere to be found, so she tries and fails to fight back. She realizes she’s running low on health when finally the hits stop coming. She looks down to see her attacker on the ground, dead with no weapons except a pair of gloves.   
“What the actual fuck?” Is all she manages to get out before being picked up and thrown over someone’s shoulder. She barely glimpses red hair and instantly knows who this is.   
This couldn’t be more embarrassing. Of all the people who could have saved her from some sewer weirdo, why did it have to be him?  
“You’d better be more careful next time, lass. This may not sound right coming from a thief but you’d better wait till everyone is dead before picking up coins,” Brynjolf sounds amused as he tells Rowan this. Great. She’ll be a laughing stock. Brynjolf continues, “It’s about time you got yourself down here. I’ve been waiting for you to show up, even put in a good word with Mercer.”  
Wait what? Finally she speaks, “Why would you do that? I thought I failed!” Brynjolf puts her back on the ground and takes a long look at her.   
“You got the shit beaten out of you by that creep. But you didn’t scream or cry. Instead, you fought back. You did the same thing when those guards were chasing you before. That’s why. I admire it. Even if you did need some help, you’ve got the spirit for it.”  
Rowan can’t help but feel a little better after hearing this. She thought she’d messed up royally, but at least hearing that she doesn’t completely suck helps. She turns around and starts walking, realizing just how much pain she’s in. But she keeps going anyways. She won’t prove anything otherwise.   
Brynjolf walks silently behind her and she realizes that she doesn’t know where she’s going. She’s never been in the Ratway before. She looks at him and he takes the lead.   
Rowan and Brynjolf enter the Ragged Flagon.


	2. Cistern

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rowan finally gets to enter the Thieves Guild, and manages to do pretty well. Brynjolf, on the other hand, is pretty worried.

Rowan walks to the Ragged Flagon after having collected the debts of the people of Riften. She had a pretty easy time of it; one of them didn’t even want to fight. She can’t help but be pretty proud of herself.   
Walking into the bar, she spots Brynjolf and smugly pulls out what he’s owed. He gives her a gorgeous smirk and collects his dues, hands Rowan her reward, and beckons her to follow him. He opens up a secret entrance in the storage room that leads to an enormous cavern.   
“This is the Cistern,” he says proudly, “it’s where we members of the Thieves Guild live.” He walks towards a blonde man. “This is Mercer, our leader. Mercer,” he gestures towards Rowan, “this is the rookie. The one I told you about. She has shown some bravery in her fights. She refuses to back down no matter how beat up she gets. She’ll do well here.”   
“That’s great,” says Mercer, clearly paying every little attention, “I have a job for you already. Ever hear of Goldenglow?”   
Brynjolf tenses up. “But even Vex couldn’t do that! Giving such a task to a rookie-“  
“I’m the leader and I’m saying she needs to show just how talented she is,” Mercer interrupts. Brynjolf looks like he has more to say, but Mercer shut him up with a look. The red head still looks angry but stays quiet while Mercer gives Rowan the details. 

 

Brynjolf paces the Cistern while waiting for the girl to return. What was she thinking, taking on a mission like this?! What was that asshole Mercer thinking, giving her something like this?! He couldn’t relax at all, remembering how that sewer creep beat her like that. She was lucky he got there when he did.   
Then he stopped pacing. Why was he so worried? He’s never worried like this about any of the other girls. Why did he care?  
He realizes he’s been standing in the middle of the room staring at nothing for a while when he finally hears a door open. 

 

Rowan opens the door to the Cistern feeling elated. She took on a really tough challenge and managed to do exactly what was asked of her. As soon as she walks in, she sees him. He sees her too, looks her up and down (probably checking for injuries) and visibly relaxes. How long was he waiting for her?   
She doesn’t get the chance to ask because he runs up to her and hugs her. She’s startled by this but doesn’t mind. At least no one can see them where they are. “Brynjolf? Are you okay?”  
“I should be asking you the same thing, lass. Did you do alright?” He finally lets go of her reluctantly and looks at her.   
“I did great and even managed to get what you asked for.” He still looks a bit worried, so she continues, “I’m not injured, don’t worry. I took care of everything.” He clearly was waiting to find out because he breathes out a sigh of relief.   
“Did you think I couldn’t do it or something?” Rowan can’t help but feel a little hurt that he thought she was so incapable.   
“No, I just couldn’t stand the thought of seeing you hurt again.” He looks embarrassed at this. Why does he care that much? Is he like this with everyone?  
Before anything else is said, Mercer is there, clearly seeing how close the two are. “Get your armor rookie, you’ve got more things to do.” With that, the blonde walks away, leaving the two alone again.   
Brynjolf gives Rowan one last look before moving away. He has so much more he wants to say, wants to do, but he can’t bring himself to do it. He says a simple “good work” and walks off, leaving Rowan feeling confused and slightly embarrassed. She wanted him to do more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! This will get smutty eventually, but for the moment, I’m keeping it kinda tame as I build the story.


	3. The Dark Brotherhood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rowan has put off Thieves Guild work for the sake of taking care of Dark Brotherhood business, which turns into her becoming the leader and takes up even more of her time. Brynjolf tries to confront her.

Rowan walks into the Cistern for the first time in a while. She feels weird bringing the jester in with her, but she’s gotten kind of attached to him. He’s like a morbid little brother.  
The main reason she’s coming back to the Guild after staying away for so long is because she wanted to finish up with things at the Dark Brotherhood, but that took longer than expected. She’s finally coming back because she needs to furnish the new sanctuary.  
Luckily, she doesn’t see Brynjolf in the Cistern anywhere. He’ll be upset at her for not coming to see him. She goes into the Flagon and sees Delvin, runs up to him, and immediately realizes that he’s talking to the second in command.  
The red head doesn’t miss a beat. He picks her up, throws her over his shoulder, and carries her off, to the sound of cat calls and whoops from the rest of the people in the bar. She feels humiliated.  
Cicero, who’s been pretty quiet this whole time suddenly gets ready to attack the man, seeing his listener being treated so roughly. The other man sees this, puts Rowan down, and draws his weapon. They glare at each other for a minute before she intervenes.   
“Stop acting like idiots, both of you! There’s no reason for this.” She knows Brynjolf is the more logical of the two, so she looks at him first. He sheathes his weapon and so does Cicero after a moment. They continue staring each other down.   
Why do men provoke each other so much? Either way, she knows she needs to talk to Brynjolf, so she may as well do it now. She tells him to follow her into the Cistern and tells her follower to stay put.   
When the two are alone, the redheaded thief starts immediately. “You’ve been neglecting us. Where have you been? And who’s the fool, lass?”   
Rowan doesn’t know what to say to this. She wasn’t expecting him to be so upset about this. She figured she’d get a cut in pay for not keeping up with her duties, but this feels a little too personal. She gets defensive. “I’ll have you know that I have business aside from the Thieves Guild. I’ve been doing other things...” And with this she stops. She remembers everyone who died in the Dark Brotherhood and begins to cry.   
Brynjolf looks uncomfortable. He has no idea why she’s crying. All he can do is hold her. He knows it’s not professional, but what else can he do? He lets her cry until she’s done and when she stops, he lets her go. “I won’t make you tell me what’s wrong, but you can talk to me, lass.” He tries to comfort her but doesn’t really know what to say. “I don’t really want to talk about it just yet,” she finally manages to get out, “I need to talk to Delvin.” The man only looks concerned and this made her feel worse.   
She goes back into the Flagon, feeling self conscious that everyone can tell she’d been crying, but keeps her chin up. Cicero finds her and notices instantly. “What’s the matter, listener?” At least he knows what happened. “Just thinking about those who’ve passed,” she says and the jester understands. He doesn’t say anything else. Rowan speaks with Delvin and gets everything settled. She then proceeds to deal with things at the sanctuary. As the leader of the Dark Brotherhood, she has a fair amount on her plate.   
  
  
  
Brynjolf is left feeling guilty for snapping at the girl like he did. He had no idea what was going on with her and didn't have the courage to ask. He’d never seen her cry, even when she was getting hit over and over. It must have been something awful.   
He figures he can do some snooping instead, so he asks Delvin what she needed to talk to him about. Delvin doesn’t want to tell him, not at first, but with a bit of bribery, he spills the beans.   
“She’s become the leader of the Dark Brotherhood. Wouldn’t guess it just by the look of her, but she’s quite capable. Heard the almost everyone but three of the Brotherhood from before got killed. Nasty bit of business, that,” and with this Brynjolf understands.   
He feels even worse for having brought it up. He knew then that he needed to find Rowan and apologize. After paying some more gold to find out where the Dawnstar Sanctuary is, he sets off.   
  
  
  
Rowan feels much better after seeing how the new Brotherhood is faring. They seem to be doing well; even Babette has made a profit off some of the new members and Nazir can’t seem to complain about anything either. She still feels a little bad about the way she left Brynjolf, so she decides to take a trip to Riften. As soon as she leaves the sanctuary, however, she finds the man waiting outside, clearly freezing from the cold and trying to figure out the door.   
She wants to laugh, seeing the second in command looking so dumbfounded, but thinks better of it. “What are you doing here?” She asks him. “I thought I’d come by and apologize, but this damn door wouldn’t let me in,” he says.   
“Oh. Well, you can come inside. There’s a fire in the torture room that you can warm up next to.” The man clearly can’t tell if she’s joking or not, and she’d rather not tell him that there’s an actual torture room. She leads him in, and many of the other members look taken aback that she’s allowed a stranger into the place. But none of them question her, and for that she’s grateful. She takes him into her room, avoiding the torture room that she joked about all too easily.   
There’s a fireplace and she’s glad to see that it’s still burning. They sit down next to it and she explains everything that happened, everything that made her cry, just everything. Brynjolf listens. She talks until there’s no more to talk about.   
Finally, the man speaks up. “I understand now. I’m so sorry, lass. I had no idea.” He looks at her. She looks back. They gaze at each other for a minute, her eyes full of tears, his green eyes staring directly at her. Rowan breaks away first. “Thank you for listening to me. We should get back to the guild. The rest of the Brotherhood will be pretty mad if I keep you here too long.”   
  
  
  
As soon as the two of them get back to the guild, Mercer finds them. “There you are. I’d ask where you’ve been, but I don’t really care. Come with me. We’re going to Snowveil Sanctum. I plan on taking down Karliah, and I need your help.”


	4. Karliah

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rowan fights with Mercer through Snowveil Sanctum only to be shocked by an unknown truth.

Rowan fights with Mercer through more draugr than she cares to think about. She doesn’t know when it’ll end, and she’s exhausted. She doesn’t care for the man, but he’s at least strong enough that she can’t complain. Upon approaching a puzzle door, she realizes that there hasn’t been a single dragon claw to be found. All of this has been for nothing.   
Mercer goes up to the door anyways and says he can pick the lock. He won’t tell her how. He opens it, and as soon as Rowan walks in, she feels the pain of being shot with an arrow. She can’t move or speak as she falls to the ground. She’s terrified. What’s going to happen now?  
Will Mercer be able to help her?  
"Do you honestly think your arrow will reach me before my blade finds your heart?" Mercer asks. “Give me a reason to try,” she hears Karliah say. “You're a clever girl, Karliah. Buying Goldenglow Estate and funding Honningbrew Meadery was inspired,” Mercer goes on.  
"To ensure an enemy's defeat, you must first undermine his allies. It was the first lesson Gallus taught us."  
“You always were quite studious, Karliah.” “Not studious enough, otherwise Gallus would still be alive,” she replies. “Gallus had his wealth and he had you. All he had to do was look the other way,” the man says.   
“Did you forget your oath we took as Nightingales? Did you expect him to simply ignore your methods?”  
“Enough of all this mindless banter! Come on, Karliah. It's time for you and Gallus to become reunited!”   
“I'm no fool, Mercer. Crossing blades with you would be a death sentence. But I can promise the next time we meet, it will be your undoing.”  
Rowan doesn’t understand. Mercer killed Gallus? And what’s a nightingale? What will happen to her?  
She sees Mercer walking towards her and knows whatever is about to happen will not be good.   
“I’ll give Brynjolf your regards,” he states before she feels a piercing pain in her side and everything goes black. 

 

When she wakes up, Rowan finds herself outside Snowveil Sanctum. She sees Karliah, who sees that she’s woken up immediately. “Are you alright? Don’t move. That was quite the wound Mercer gave you. It took quite a bit of time to heal it. Luckily that poisoned arrow I hit you with stopped some of the bleeding.”  
“Heal me? Didn’t you want to kill me?” Rowan asks, confused. “No, that arrow was meant for Mercer,” and with this, the elf explains all of Mercer’s treachery. She finishes and Rowan can only feel anger. She’s never truly hated anyone like this before in her life. “What can I do to help?”

 

Brynjolf, back at the Cistern, is pacing again. He can’t focus on anything except how worried he is. Finally, he hears the secret entrance open and looks to only find Mercer. His heart drops. What could have happened?  
“Sorry to tell you this, Brynjolf, but your rookie was with Karliah all along,” Mercer begins, “and I killed her. I’m very sorry about this. Nothing else could be done,” and the man walks away without another word.   
The redhead doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t do anything. All he can do is try to sort out his thoughts. He only sits and stares until it finally hits him. He’s been betrayed. Not only that, but the traitor is dead. How could she? He’s seeing red and it takes all he has to control himself until he’s alone.  
He punches the wall and turns a table over. Not a lot of damage, but enough that he feels his anger ebbing into hurt now. Why would she do this to him?


	5. Ulfric Stormcloak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rowan takes another break from Guild-related business in Windhelm, only to have her feelings catch up with her.

Rowan hasn’t been back to the Thieves Guild in quite some time. They all probably believe her to be a traitor, and Vex would skin her alive if she saw her. She doesn’t even want to think about Brynjolf, but she can’t help it. She thinks about him constantly. He probably regrets having saved her.   
Undoubtedly he’s angry. He probably thinks the effort he went through to train her was wasted. She feels absolutely miserable just thinking about what he thinks of her now. She feels an aching pain in her chest when she remembers that she can’t go see him. What if she can never see him again?   
This is all because of that bastard Mercer. If it weren’t for him, she could be sleeping in her bed in the Cistern, watching the redhead working through the night. He would always be doing something late at night, training or dealing with Guild business. She would always watch him, feeling comforted by the fact that he would go to so much effort to take care of everybody. She had other beds, houses even, where she could sleep, but she liked to sleep in the Cistern for the sake of getting to see him at night.   
Recalling this, Rowan starts to cry. She looks around her and remembers where she is. She’s in Candlehearth Hall, the inn in Windhelm. She needed a break from trying to figure everything out, so she came here. She likes the cold and enjoys going to the palace to talk to Ulfric.  
Ever since she led the rebellion to victory, the two have been drinking buddies, and on nights when Ulfric can’t get away, she goes to the palace with some mead. They talk while he works, and sometimes she helps him out when he needs it.  
As today is another one of those days, she wipes her tears and goes to the bar to get some mead. She walks through the cold to the palace, giving change to beggars that she finds herself passing. She has plenty of money, so why not share?  
Upon entering the palace, Rowan finds Ulfric is not on his throne, so she goes to the room where war plans are made. She sees Galmar, who gives her a polite greeting and returns to planning. Ulfric isn’t here either. She goes upstairs and finds his door shut. She knocks and hears a grunt that tells her she can come in. She opens the door.   
“So this is where you are. I’ve been looking for you. I don’t want to drink by myself,” she says when he looks up from his bed. She sits down next to him.   
“Sorry. I needed to clear my head a bit,” he takes the mead she she offers and drinks from the bottle. “Galmar wants to try and liberate Solstheim and I think the man is going crazy,” he smirks, “you might be able to convince him though. He certainly has a thing for you.”  
The girl almost chokes on her mead. Galmar had been after her for a while, until she flat out rejected him. He still treats her with respect, but he’s been more curt ever since. At least he got the message.   
Ulfric only looks at her. He looks as if he has something to say, but he stays quiet. She doesn’t know what to do, under the intensity of his stare. She suddenly becomes overly conscious of the fact that she’s drinking mead alone with a man while sitting on his bed with him. Suddenly he leans towards her and kisses her. She’s so shocked that she can’t fight it, but doesn’t lean into it either. She always liked him, and maybe had a crush on him some time ago, but she really doesn’t feel anything for him anymore. In fact, all she can feel is the soul crashing absence of Brynjolf. As the man kisses her, all she can think about is how much she misses him.   
Finally, the blonde moves away and just stares at her for a moment. Finally, he speaks. “I know you don’t feel anything for me, but I don’t think I could have gone on without doing that.”   
“I’m sorry, I just don’t feel that way,” she responds, feeling guilty. “I guess I’m just like Galmar then. Crazy for you, and still rejected,” he says.   
“I need to go, I’m sorry,” Rowan apologizes. She leaves Ulfric clearly unhappy but doesn’t know what she can do about it. She needs to help Karliah. She needs to go back to the Guild. She needs Brynjolf.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to update this! I’ve had a lot of stuff going on and just haven’t had time.


	6. The Calm Before the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rowan gets to see Brynjolf again before she needs to go find information about Mercer. Brynjolf starts noticing some feelings.

Rowan is nervous as she walks into the Cistern with Karliah. After decoding Gallus’s journal, they know what they need to do, but who knows how the guild will take it?  
They walk through the secret entrance in the back of the Flagon and immediately, Brynjolf is there, sword drawn, ready to kill. He’s looking at Karliah. He doesn’t even feel enough for her to look her in the eye. This only makes her feel worse.  
Only once Karliah explains does Brynjolf look at her. She looks back at him and they just gaze into each other’s eyes.  
The moment ends when Karliah breaks in. Rowan can’t help feeling a little annoyed, but she knows that she needs to focus now. They need a plan. 

 

Brynjolf doesn’t know how to feel. He’s livid about Mercer being a traitor, elated about Rowan being alive and not a traitor, and worried about Rowan also. This next task for her will be a difficult one. He still doesn’t understand just why he’s so worried, but he does know that he doesn’t want her to get hurt. He believed her to be dead once and knows he couldn’t handle the real thing. He sees that she’s finally finished talking to Karliah.  
“Hey, lass,” he doesn’t know where to start. She looks at him and he can’t read the expression in her eyes. What is it that he’s feeling? He wants to apologize, but there’s more he feels like he should say. “I’m sorry. For drawing my sword against you. For not trusting you. For trusting that bastard instead,” he can’t bring himself to say the man’s name.  
“I understand. The Guild always comes first, right?” She looks happy for some reason. “It does, but I should have known. I was closest to him and I had no idea,” he feels so angry now, not only with Mercer, but with himself. “I’m sorry, Rowan.” He looks up and sees that she’s smiling at him.  
“How can you be smiling? You’re about to go on a dangerous mission and up until a few minutes ago, everyone was ready to kill you, including myself.”  
“You finally called me by my name,” she says. He hadn't even realized he’d said it. With a jolt, he realizes he wants to be with her like this, to just talk, to say her name until he goes hoarse, to not worry about her safety constantly. He knows it’s selfish and that it could never happen. But he wants it.  
He looks at her to see a similar longing in her eyes. He grabs her hand and it’s soft and warm. She squeezes his hand back and he doesn’t want to let her go. But reluctantly, he does.  
“Good luck on your mission, Rowan. Please, come back safe,” and with this he turns to walk away, but he hears her say “thank you, Brynjolf,” and he wants to hear his name on her lips again and again. It takes everything he has to walk away, to let her into harm’s way, to let her do this. But they both have jobs to do. He knows that.


	7. Slaying Mercer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rowan, Brynjolf, and Karliah track down Mercer and make him pay for his crimes.

Rowan only rests once she’s finished at Riftweald Manor. This was quite possibly one of her more exhausting ventures and is glad it’s over. Once she’s taken a break, she puts away her warhammer and goes into the Cistern.   
She heads straight towards Brynjolf, who looks relieved as usual once he’s seen her. She’s glad to see him and hopes that maybe they could get a moment alone together.   
Like clockwork, Karliah comes and explains the next step of the plan. She’s getting irritated, but knows it’s for the best. They need to get through this as quickly as possible, before too much damage is done. 

 

Rowan meets Karliah at the standing stone with Brynjolf. The trip there was pretty quiet with just the two of them. Every so often, their hands would brush and she couldn’t help getting a little excited each time. She would notice him blush a little and she could feel herself blush as well. There were so many things both of them wanted to say, but neither had the bravery to start.   
Karliah leads them into the hall and explains Nightingales and the myths behind them. They reach the armory and Brynjolf and Rowan each grab a suit of Nightingale armor. He immediately starts taking off his Guild armor in front of the two of them and while Karliah simply turns around, the other girl finds herself staring for a second.  
He looks up and blushes, but doesn’t try to cover up. She sees his muscular chest and wants to touch it. She starts walking towards him when she remembers that there’s a whole other person in the room and stops herself.   
She decides to have a little fun with this and starts stripping as well, making a show of it. She notes the glances from the redhead and the fact that his face is a deep red. She feels somewhat satisfied, but wants more at the same time.   
Finally, after blushes and a little heavy breathing, the two manage to get their armor on and Karliah turns back around, seemingly aware of what just took place. Rowan is somewhat embarrassed at her actions, but Brynjolf is clearly happy with them. 

 

Once the ceremony is over, Rowan speaks with Karliah, who explains Mercer’s true crime. She feels even angrier at the man than she did before. She can’t believe how horrible he is. She feels a pat on her shoulder and looks to see Brynjolf, who looks like he wants to talk to her.   
“It looks like we need a new Guild leader. I was thinking; you’ve proven your loyalty to this Guild more times than anyone I’ve known. I think it’s only fair that you be named leader,” he says.   
She doesn’t know what to say, but she manages anyways. “What about you? Don’t you want to be the leader?”  
“Lass, I’ve been the second-in-command to Mercer for years. I’ve seen thieves come and go and not once have I found someone with as much courage, loyalty, and strength as you. I think you’re perfect for the job. Don’t worry, I’ll be your second-in-command still and I can take on most of the work. I know you’re the leader of the Dark Brotherhood and that takes up quite a bit of time as it is. Just say yes.”  
“Okay. I’ll do it,” she manages even though she’s still pretty shocked. Her, leader? This is like a dream! Not to mention, she’ll get to see Brynjolf more often. Just the thought makes her incredibly happy. 

 

The group enters Irkngthand Sanctuary to see Mercer removing the eyes from the giant falmer statue. The ground beneath Rowan falls from beneath her feet and she finds herself on the ground underneath. She hears a struggle going on up above her and she sees Brynjolf attacking Karliah, while apologizing for it. The blonde must have used some kind of frenzy spell on him.   
She looks to find the man is no longer there. She sees a little glimmer and she runs to it, warhammer drawn. She lands a hit and knows that the invisible man took some damage. He appears again and she swings at him until he drops dead.  
Was that it? She looks around only to realize that the whole room is flooding. She sees Brynjolf and Karliah and they spend a while looking for an exit. Finally, Karliah finds one and goes through it. Brynjolf goes next, but the water is so high now that Rowan hits her head on the ceiling. The man hears the sound and turns around, throws her over his shoulder and the three escape with little time to spare.   
Once outside, he sets her down on the ground and uses a healing potion to help her head. She instantly feels much better and looks around. He looks worried, and the other woman looks at her with a face of mild concern.   
“I’m fine now. Thank you, Bryn-“ and she’s immediately cut off by the feeling of lips against hers. She feels the scruff of the man’s face against hers and finds herself kissing him back. She feels so happy she can’t stand it. This is what she’s wanted to say. She hasn’t had words to express it, but she knows that this is enough to say how she feels.   
“Okay, lovebirds,” they’d forgotten Karliah was right there, “there are things that must still be done.” And reluctantly, the man lets her go. They don’t want to let this moment die, but it does. They finally break eye contact to look at the elf.   
She finally speaks once she has their attention. “Now you need to return the skeleton key to its rightful place. This will not be easy…” and she explains what has to be done.   
“I need to take care of things at the Guild,” Brynjolf reluctantly says, making it clear he wants to stay with Rowan. “I understand,” she says, “I’ll take care of this. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be alright. Let’s get some drinks when I get back, okay? I’ll pay for the first round,” she adds as an afterthought.   
“I’ll hold you to it, lass,” he says before letting her go.


	8. Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally the Rowan and Brynjolf get to be alone. This is a smutty chapter, so don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Rowan is exhausted. She finally returned the key to the Twilight Sepulcher and she’s both physically and mentally drained. She’s glad she got to see Karliah meet Gallus again though. Despite the frequent interruptions of the elf, she actually liked her quite a bit, and hopes that maybe they could get to be friends.   
Feeling sore and getting on her horse to go home, Rowan remembers her promise with Brynjolf. She feels lighter knowing that he’ll be waiting for her and the two of them will finally get to actually relax together. She can’t wait. Even though she’s exhausted, she rides to Riften as fast as she possibly can. 

 

Rowan opens the entrance to the Cistern and goes down the ladder into the cavern below. She spots him instantly and finds herself running to him. He looks up just in time to notice her coming and he opens his arms for her to run into.   
They hold each other for a moment, but let go when they hear Delvin say “get a room.” They both feel a little embarrassed but hardly care.   
Rowan feels brave, and asks “should we go to my house, Honeyside?” Brynjolf gives her a smirk before saying, “that would be great, lass.”  
The walk isn’t long, but it feels like forever. She’s both excited and nervous to really be alone with the man for the first time.   
Soon enough they enter the house and as soon as the door is closed, she feels his arms around her, and she returns the embrace. She feels a little shy suddenly, but she doesn’t stop the redhead when she feels his lips on hers.   
He kisses her hard and she kisses back, wanting to be closer to him than ever. She feels his hands tugging at the buckles on her armor, and she helps him take it off. They strip each other down, one piece of armor at a time, until there’s nothing left.   
She puts her hands on his muscular chest as they kiss each other, and she feels his rough hands roaming over her body. She loves the feeling of his against her and wants more.   
He picks her up, like a princess, instead of the usual over-the-shoulder, and Rowan feels her face get warmer than it already was.   
Brynjolf carries her to the bedroom and gently sets her on the bed. She sees his member and notices it’s already hard. She wraps her hand around it and begins to stroke it gently. He thrusts into it a little, making it clear he wants more. “Lass…” he groans slowly before he grabs the hand that’s wrapped around him and climbing onto the bed.   
He gently grabs her knees and pulls them apart, and she doesn’t resist, even if she feels embarrassed. His rough hands run down her inner thighs and suddenly he’s kissing her right thigh, moving his way down it. She feels the scruff on his face against her leg and gets wetter and wetter as he goes lower.   
Next thing she knows, his tongue is at her core and she can feel him sucking her clit for a moment before he uses his thumb to rub it, going in little circles. She moans as she feels a finger enter her, then two. He licks the space in between her clit and her entrance, and she feels herself getting close.   
She moans louder and louder as she approaches her climax, and he goes faster to keep up. “Bryn… Brynjolf..!!!” She says his name as she finishes, and he slows down and eventually takes his fingers out and pulls back.   
“Glad to see you enjoy yourself, lass,” he says when he looks up at her. His eyes are full of lust and his member is so hard that she can see precum coming out of it. She wants more already, and he knows it.  
Brynjolf moves so that he’s hovering above her and he looks into her eyes. “Are you sure you want this, Rowan?”   
“Yes,” she says, and with that he pushes the tip in, slowly entering her. She moans as he does this. She’s never taken anything this big before. He waits until she’s adjusted and then starts moving slowly.   
He lets out a groan when she bucks her hips into his, and he begins to move a little faster. He grabs her wrists and pins them above her head, which makes her feel unexpectedly turned on.   
It isn’t long before the two start getting near the edge. Brynjolf is moving fast and hard, making her almost scream with pleasure. She moans his name again as she finishes first. He gets sent over by this and spills his seed inside her with a long groan. He collapses onto her.   
“I love you…” he says, exhausted. “I love you too,” Rowan says back, happier than she’s ever been in her life. They stay like this for a long time and eventually fall asleep together, happily holding each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! This is probably the last chapter of this work, so thank you for staying until the end!


	9. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rowan and Brynjolf get their happy ending!

Rowan and Brynjolf fight through bandit after bandit, hardly feeling tired. They know that there will be a chest wherever the chief is, and that’s their goal. The two have been going on adventures together ever since the skeleton key was returned to the twilight sepulcher.   
They rarely leave each other’s side and neither of them can complain. They bicker sometimes, (usually about directions) but they’re generally happy together.  
They enter a room and can tell it’s different from the others. Rowan has a feeling this must be where the bandit chief is, so she signals to Brynjolf to crouch and stay silent. She feels weird giving him orders since he started as her superior, but he doesn’t seem to mind.   
The sneak quietly through the room and hear the chief talking to someone. She thinks it may be wise to aim a surprise attack on the stronger of the two first and then focus on him, letting the redhead handle the other.   
The man seems to have already figured out what she was planning because he’s moving to the side of the room that the smaller bandit is on. This doesn’t surprise her, after all the time they’ve spent together, although she does feel slightly pleased by this.   
She quietly gets closer to the bandit chief and, with her warhammer drawn, she plants a hit right between his shoulder blades. She fully expects him to go down with the first hit, but to her surprise he turns around and attacks her. She uses her hammer to block his attacks, but it only does so much. She can hear her partner fighting the other one as well, and knows this might be a tougher fight than usual.   
She hears a scream of agony and can’t tell whose it is; she feels her heart jump in her throat at the fear that it might be Brynjolf. She fights back harder than ever, and instead of blocking, she takes a hit and immediately sees an opening to take down her opponent. She lands her warhammer right on his head and he crumples to the ground.   
Afraid to look up, she sees the ground is covered in blood. Finally she does look up and what she sees is horrifying. The man he was fighting was on the ground, clearly dead, but her partner had an enormous wound in his side and was bleeding heavily.   
She runs to him, looking for a healing potion, but she only has one. She knows it won’t be enough to help him completely, but it’ll stop the bleeding. She tries to give it to him, but he’s looking at her wound. “You need it for yourself, lass,” he says.  
“I’ll be okay, just take it. I have more potions at home and I’m not the one who’s bleeding out,” she says, beginning to feel desperate. She can see he’s getting paler by the minute, and her wound isn’t nearly as bad in comparison.   
To her relief he finally takes it and drinks it all, and eventually stops bleeding. His wound closes up enough that he can move and he gets up, and staggers over to the chest. She couldn’t care less about the money, but she can tell he’s determined, so she doesn’t stop him from opening it up and taking what’s in it.   
He hands her a bottle and she sees that it’s another potion. “It’s for your wound. We got lucky and there was another in there. You need to take this one,” he says.   
She begins to protest, but he won’t have it. She wishes she could give it to him instead, to help him the rest of the way, but she knows he wouldn’t allow it.   
She drinks it, feeling considerably better as she does. “What else was in the chest?” She asks him. He looks away for a moment, like he doesn’t want to tell her, but he does finally respond.   
“Weapons, armor, and gold,” he pauses, as if there’s something more, but instead continues, “lots of gold,” and finishes with that. Rowan can tell he isn’t being completely honest but isn’t in the mood to argue right now. She definitely plans on bothering him about it later, but she needs time to heal first.   
The two make their way back to Riften by horse, moving as quickly as possible while not pushing themselves. On the way back, Brynjolf said he would go back to the Guild, but she wouldn’t hear of it. She wanted to go back to the Guild herself, but she knew he wouldn’t allow that either. In the end they decided to compromise and stay together at honeyside until they were better, and put Delvin in charge of the guild until then. 

 

Finally both Brynjolf and Rowan began to feel better. The time away from the Guild felt like forever, but she knew it would be better not to push herself. As they put on their armor to go back, she remembers the chest from the bandit camp.   
“Hey, Bryn?” She begins, “What was really in that chest? You know I can tell when you’re lying…” she feels uncomfortable confronting him, and even worse that he would lie to her at all. He takes a long look at her and she’s surprised to find he doesn’t look even a little guilty.   
She begins to get angry; and he immediately senses it. “Woah, lass, I’m not trying to keep you from your share…” he mumbles something about her getting more of it and she’s even more confused. “Then why were you lying? What was in that chest anyways?”  
Finally he looks her in the eyes. “Something valuable. I lost it long ago to those bandits and knew they’d been keeping it there ever since,” he says as he rifles through his pocket for something. “It’s the nicest one I’ve ever found in my life; that’s why I wanted to take down that camp in the first place…” his face is red and he looks a bit like he’s ashamed. “I wasn’t expecting us to both get hurt so bad for this.”  
“One what?” Rowan asks, feeling more and more dumbstruck as he goes on. “What could have possibly been worth you getting hurt so badly?” She asks, seeing that he finally seems to have found whatever was hiding in his pocket.   
“This,” he says as he pulls out the most beautiful ring she’s ever seen. It was made of gold and had a diamond on it and it was encrusted with smaller diamonds. He gets down on one knee and asks, “Will you marry me?”  
She finds herself absolutely shocked for a moment, but the feeling quickly gives way to more happiness than she can hold inside. She’s crying tears of joy and instantly knows the answer. “Yes!”  
He stands up, puts the ring on her finger, and as soon as it’s there, he grabs her around the waist and gives her the hardest kiss he’s ever given her. She kisses back and the two of them suddenly can’t let go and find themselves making love on the spot. They couldn’t be happier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long for me to do the epilogue on this! It took me a while to figure out a good story for it. Thank you so much for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic ever, so I hope you like it! I love Brynjolf so much and I’ve read so many fics about him, I wanted to write one myself!


End file.
